Brass and Steel

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  • CoyoteCreekGuns

    Sharpshooter
    Rating - 100%
    25   0   0
    Feb 7, 2009
    663
    18
    New Palestine, IN
    With ammo prices climbing out of control, I have started to contemplate purchasing steel cased ammo instead of brass cased ammo. Why have I always purchased brass cased? Good question, it's just tradition I guess. So my question is this:

    Other than for the purpose of reusing or selling the brass, is there really any advantage of the brass cased over the steel cased? :dunno:

    Don't get me wrong, if they're priced the same, I'm going for brass, but with today's economics, the steel cased ones are less expensive.
     

    shooter521

    Certified Glock Nut
    Rating - 100%
    17   0   0
    May 13, 2008
    19,185
    48
    Indianapolis, IN US
    Steel cased ammo is harder on the extractor and ejector than brass, which may accelerate wear. But for the savings you gain over buying brass cased ammo, you can buy a LOT of extractors... ;)

    Some ranges also frown on steel cased ammo, primarily because it screws with their sorting/recycling operation.
     

    shadow6492

    Expert
    Rating - 100%
    10   0   0
    Jan 21, 2009
    1,144
    36
    Garrett/Auburn IN
    I was always told to use brass only due to the wear the metal causes. Maybe try the cci blazer alum cased rounds. Buddy shoots these out of his baby eagle with no problems.
     

    Indy_Guy_77

    Grandmaster
    Rating - 100%
    16   0   0
    Apr 30, 2008
    16,576
    48
    You can also run into feeding/extraction problems with steel, too.

    I've heard stories that steel cases are more likely to get stuck due to steel's less-than-stellar elasticity. Meaning that it won't shrink back down that miniscule amount that it swells as it's fired. Brass usually shrinks back down with no problem at all.

    I'm NOT a metallurgist and I've never had any issue with this using steel-cased 9mm ammo.

    What I HAVE had a problem with is feeding; most of my guns just don't like steel-cased ammunition, unfortunately. I think it's the anti-corrosion lacquer that's put on 'em. Tends to gum up the works on my pistols...

    -J-
     

    NateIU10

    Master
    Rating - 0%
    0   0   0
    Feb 19, 2008
    3,714
    38
    Maryland
    I use almost solely non-brass in my glock 19. I've gone through over a thousand of the Blazer aluminums and it shot great, and was relatively cheap. I am going to run some Brown Bear that I have through i tonight, I'll be interested in how that goes.
     

    shooter521

    Certified Glock Nut
    Rating - 100%
    17   0   0
    May 13, 2008
    19,185
    48
    Indianapolis, IN US
    Ymost of my guns just don't like steel-cased ammunition, unfortunately. I think it's the anti-corrosion lacquer that's put on 'em.

    All steel-cased ammo is not created equal...

    S&B "Range Safe" ammo features a steel case that has been copper-washed; looks just like brass. I've shot a metric a$$load of that out of everything from Glocks to 9mm ARs to my M-11/9 SMG, and haven't had a single problem. Silver Bear uses a zinc-plated steel case, and Wolf "Polyformance" (i.e. black box) uses some kind of polymer or powder coating. IME, any of these are preferable to the lacquered stuff (Brown Bear, Barnaul, older Wolf MC, etc).
     
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